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Kanye West’s Behind The Scenes of the ‘Watch the Throne’ Tour
I mean, this is the same man who almost died in a near-fatal car crash and recorded his very first single two weeks later with his mouth wired shut. This is the man who has repeatedly stood up for his own work after losing out in major award shows. And finally, this is the man who raps about Manolo and Guiseppi Zanotti (seriously… Google that).
So you know it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to look behind the scenes of Kanye and Jay-Z‘s Watch the Throne tour. If you can’t (or simply don’t want to) watch Ye and Jay perform “N—as in Paris” eight times in a row with Kanye wearing a kilt, you can at least see what goes on in his head, away from the lights and away from the fame. It’s insightful and for the first episode, it’s also free. Watch here.
More information about VoyR after the break. You can also watch footage of “N—as in Paris” being played eight times in a row, taken from the Chicago show.
“There are music fans. And there are true fans. Which one are you? Fans download the single. True fans know the whole album. Fans trip on the myth. True fans understand the reality.
VOYR is your all-access pass to behind the scenes at Kanye West and Jay-Z’s Watch the Throne tour. It’s a daily video document of all of the actual hard work that goes into living life at Kanye’s level. It’s not about models and bottles. It’s about working hard, from the moment the sun rises, until you just can’t push your body any further. If you want hype, just stay with the music mags and blogs that you already read. If you want to understand the reality of this business from the inside, come inside. We’ve got a seat for you.
Five episodes a week. Live from the tour. And you’ll join a community of hustlers that understand how the industry works and are ready to take their involvement to the next level.
This is just the beginning. Join us.”
Recommended: The Mashups Post
Hey, kids (and by “kids,” I of course mean mostly adults of all ages), do you like mashups?
(Oh. You don’t. Well, calm down for a moment and read this.)
Now that we’re all on the same page, may I present to you a couple of new-ish, full-length, ridiculously enjoyable mashup albums.
The Abrahammer – How Dubstep Music Destroyed My Life
First off, we’ll be traveling (in a very non-literal fashion) to Columbus, OH, where a successor to Girl Talk‘s shirtless and sweaty crown has cranked out what is quite possibly the mashup album of the year (GT division), How Dubstep Music Destroyed My Life. Much like GT, The Abrahammer presents a densely packed cross section of rap and rock radio hits (152 unique samples in all), but adds even more with the brilliant deployment of TV theme songs and even tosses the geeks an 8-bit bone in the form of a toughened up (via Spank Rock/Amanda Blank and some digitally tricked out Funky Drummer samples) Legend of Zelda theme to kick off “Stray Dog and the Legend of the Best.”
The whole album is shot-through with OMFG ass-kicking moments. Dr. Dre vs. Guns n’ Roses kicking over at the drop of a hi-hat into Audio Two vs. Steve Miller on “Gangster of Success”. The Office Theme fading into A-ha as Major Lazer gives way to the Brazilian Girls and Gucci Mane on “Hold the Right to Spin”. Archie spitting venom over one of the greatest riffs of all time before suddenly spinning the dial over to Devo’s spastic funk and Bun B’s ode to drank on “Back In It”. The entirety of “I Usually Drop It Like This”.
There’s nowhere to go but up, seeing as this is The Abrahammer’s debut. You can pick up the whole thing here, in exchange for a simple appreciative tweet or a Facebook “Like,” both of which he has fully earned.
The Abrahammer – “Stray Dog and the Legend of the Best”
Wugazi – 13 Chambers
Still staying in the Midwest, we now head to Minneapolis, MN, home of Prince Rogers Nelson and several underachieving sports teams. Wugazi is the end result of a year’s worth of cutting up every Wu-Tang acapella and Fugazi riff Cecil Otter and Swiss Andy could get their creative hands on.
Following the greyprint left behind by DJ Dangermouse on his road to eventual superstardom, Wugazi refines the mashup process to one set of vocalists and one set of instrumentals. Fugazi, while not being an obvious choice for an unwitting accomplice, turns out to be a great one. There aren’t too many post-hardcore, post-punk, post-whatever bands out there that rely on their rhythm section quite as much as Fugazi does. (Need more evidence on Fugazi’s love for drums and bass? Check out former Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty’s side project Girls Against Boys, which featured a thunderous duo of bass players. [Much in the way Ned’s Atomic Dustbin did, but only without the {seemingly} novelty aspect. Of course, the Neds did it first, which may make them the standard bearer. All I know is that I prefer GVSB to NAB, hence the previous several sentences.*])
*SCL – Standard Critic’s License, Subsection B, Part 1.(b). “Subjective tastes can (and should) be used to revise musical history as needed.”
While not every track works quite as well as the tracks that work, the ratio of great-to-meh is incredibly high. Once again, the entry free is all of 0, no matter which currency you choose to not spend. Go at it track by track via Wugazi’s Soundcloud page or take a shot at the whole thing with this handy download link.
Wugazi – “Killa Hill”:
Wugazi – “Shame on Blue”:
Live Review: Explosions in the Sky @ Stockholm, Sweden’s Debaser Medis (11/14)
Bands: Explosions in the Sky, The Drift
Location: Stockholm, Sweden’s Debaser Medis
Date: November 14, 2011
Video from Debaser Medis
These days are some of the last days of the fall in Sweden, and the land awaits thick white carpets of snow to wipe off the ghosts of last spring in the form of all the yellow and orange leaves laying on the ground or still holding on to the most reluctant trees.
Autumn, in my opinion, is a season that fits very well with post rock, so there couldn’t have been a better time of the year for me to attend a live performance of Explosions in the Sky, whose European tour brought them to Stockholm and onto the stage of Debaser Medis. This Texas band re-defined the genre, becoming almost synonymous with cinematic, emotional instrumental tunes, quickly gaining the reputation of having a killer live show.
The music started around 8 with opening act The Drift. I really liked this band, and one of the things that made them so enjoyable for me was that despite the fact that the California trio also are defined as instrumental post-rock, their approach was very different from that of Explosions in the Sky, blessing the evening with some variety.
The trio generated a massive wall of sound with the aid of very essential instrumentation (a minimal drum kit, a bass, a guitar and a synth) and their set alternated between static and haunting moments to marching drums and psychedelic rock vibes. Somewhere in between This Will Destroy You and Maserati, but with a retro twist, The Drift entertained (and impressed) the audience of an almost sold out Debaser Medis, (around 1500-2000 people maybe?), all warmed up for the leading act of the evening.
A quick change of instrumentation on stage and curtains opened up again, revealing Explosions in the Sky ready to start their set. A quick introduction speech and the music started with fan-favorite “First Breath After Coma”, the wonderful opener to the band’s album The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place. The band’s trademarks are its simple, yet intricate guitar textures that perfectly melt on top of the rhythm section, and I think the musicians definitely live up to their reputation as a great live band, being able to re-create the magic of their formula perfectly on a stage, even adding a lot more energy and dynamics.
After the familiar first song, the band moved on to play a track from their new album (Take Care, Take Care, Take Care) called “Last Known Surroundings”, that gets a lot sharper and more aggressive live than on the record, with an extremely distorted e-bowed guitar on a side and a cleaner, more melodic one on the other, all fueled by marching drums and pounding bass. The songs off the new record shine in a different light on stage, bringing in a more progressive feel with overall faster tempo and heavier music. After a brief intersection, the band launched into “Catastrophe and The Cure”, making everyone headbang before abruptly ending with a wall of distortion to set the ground for “The Only Moment We Were Alone”, probably my personal favorite song of the band. One single string hammering the same note on a guitar evolved into an enchanting 3 guitar arpeggio texture and evolved until it reached its emotional and musical climax. Faded background voices and noise introduced “Let Me Back In”, bringing a darker mood to the table along with the older “Greet Death” . The mood then shifted lighter again with the bright, major chords that introduced “Be Comfortable, Creature”.
One of the most emotional break-downs of the evening is probably the intro to “The Birth And Death Of The Day”, where walls of distortion turned into a carpet of arpeggio guitars before finally bleeding into “The Moon Is Down”, an epic outro to a really great concert where both The Drift and Explosions in the Sky carried the audience along with them on a musical and emotional journey.
Drake – “The Calm…The Resistance…The Ride.”
MP3: Drake – “The Calm…The Resistance…The Ride.”
“The Calm”
From: So Far Gone (2009)
Produced by Noah “40” Shebib
The song that started it all, “The Calm” was recorded by Drake on a night when he simply needed to vent about the stress that surrounded him and his budding recording career. Early in the song, Drake questions, “Please leave me alone / Drunk off champagne, screaming in the phone / See my house is not a home, fuck is going on? / Where did we go wrong, where do we belong?” Despite all the chaos and struggle that surrounded his personal life, Drake knew that his music would carry him through it in the end. It’s a hard life, but one he has to deal with: “I’m just in my zone, I call this shit the calm / Yeah, but I’m the furthest thing from calm.”
“The Resistance”
From Thank Me Later (2010)
Produced by Noah “40” Shebib
Unlike with “The Calm”, Drake’s career has already taken off and he’s now being inundated by his newfound fame. Directed towards his haters and his old friends, Drake argues that he’ll take advantage of all the fame he receives with his music career. On the smooth R&B hook, Drizzy sings, “What am I afraid of? / This is supposed to be what dreams are made of / But people I don’t have the time to hang with / Always look at me and say the same shit / They say you promised me you would never change.” Tough luck, guys, but Drake’s not going anywhere.
“The Ride (feat. The Weeknd)”
From Take Care (2011)
Produced by Doc McKinney & The Weeknd
The first of the three songs to feature guest vocals from another artist, the third song of the series has a similar angst-filled vibe and is actually Drake’s favorite song off of Take Care. He opens by boldly declaring, “I hate when people say they feel me, man. I hate that shit.” Drake then goes on to explain this idea throughout the song, describing his past and present life and elaborating on how no one can truly relate to him unless they’ve lived his life and been in his shoes. As he says at the end of the first verse, “It’s feeling like you own every place you choose to be at now / Walking through airport security with your hat down / Instead of getting a pat down, they just keep on / Saying that they feel you, nigga.” That’s certainly an experience that doesn’t happen to everyone.
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